Disney accuses Trump’s media regulator of ‘unlawfully’ supressing free speech | World News

Disney has accused Donald Trump’s media regulator of an “unlawful” attempt to suppress free speech after it was forced to apply for early licence reviews for its eight ABC TV stations.

The order from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is chaired by Trump-appointee Brendan Carr, came amid growing pressure on Disney to sack talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke about Melania Trump.

Disney filed applications for the early licence reviews on Thursday, but did so “under protest”, calling it “unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional”.

It also said it violates its First Amendment free speech rights.

“This effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process must not prevail,” the company added.

The FCC claims the reviews, ​which were due to start in October 2028, had been brought forward as part of a year-long discrimination investigation.

Carr told reporters last month that the timing was “unrelated” to the Kimmel news. He said: “I understand that anything that we do is is now framed as ‘in the wake of’ in the headlines, and I understand that’s how it is, but we’ve got to make these decisions based on where we are in the investigations and what is best for next steps in that enforcement proceeding in the headlines can be what the headlines are, but that was the basis for our decision.”

Last month Kimmel had joked on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, that Mrs Trump had a “glow like an expectant widow”.

Days later a gunman opened fire in Washington at the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) dinner, which was attended by the first lady and the president.

The pair have demanded the sacking of Kimmel, who was briefly taken off-air last year over comments about the killing of Trump supporter Charlie Kirk.

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Mr Trump wrote: “I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said, but this is something far beyond the pale.”

In a post on X, the first lady said Kimmel’s “hateful and violent rhetoric” intends to divide the US.

“His monologue about my family isn’t comedy – his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America.

“Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community,” she wrote.